Wire carrier



March 31, 1964 R. KOHN ETAL 3,127,127

WIRE CARRIER Filed Aug. 20, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS ROBERT KOHNATTORNEYS MORTIMER c. wmsm;

March 31, 1964 R. KOHN ETAL 3,127,127

WIRE CARRIER File'd Aug. 20, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ka'aa INVENTORSROBERT KOHN B FGORTIMER C. WINSKI 24% 5% W ATTORNEYS United StatesPatent 3,127,127 WIRE CARRIER Robert Kuhn and Mortimer C. Winshi,Michigan City, Ind., assiguors to Northern Indiana Steel Supply (30.,1116., Michigan City, Ind, a corporation of Indiana Filed Aug. 20, 1962,Ser. No. 218,011 4 Claims. (Cl. 242-129) The present invention relatesto a wire carrier, and more particularly to a carrier for coils of wirefor use primarily in winding and unwinding, transporting and storing thecoils of wire.

The conventional carrier for coils of wire consists of a plurality ofvertically positioned rods or pipes in spaced relation on a disc-shapedbase, with the rods or pipes being joined together at the top bywelding. In moving the loaded carriers from one place to another, acrane hooks the carriers at the top where the rods or pipes are joinedtogether, thus placing the entire load of the carrier and coil on thewelded joint between the upper ends of the rods or pipes. This oftenresults in damage to the carriers, usually in fracturing the weldedjoints, or in serious distortion of the rods or pipes. It is thereforeone of the principal objects of the invention to provide a carrierhaving a special construction which is substantially stronger and morerugged than the conventional carrier, particularly at the upper end, andwhich obtains this added strength and sturdiness without increasing theoverall weight of the carrier.

Another object of the present invention is to provide carriers of theaforesaid type which can be readily nested with one another for shippingand storing when not in use, and which can be partially nested with oneanother when only a partial coil is on the inner carrier.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a relatively simple,easily fabricated wire carrier structure which can be removed from andreinserted in a coil of wire and from which the wire can be unwoundvertically while the carrier is stationary, or horizontally while thecarrier is rotated on a reel for handling coiled wire.

Another object of the invention is to provide a combination carrier andwire handling reel in which the carrier can be readily assembled inposition by merely seating it on the reel, and in which the carrier willcenter itself on the reel in position and engagement to be driventhereby.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description and accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a wire carrier and reel embodying thepresent invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the present wire carrier shown inFIGURE I removed from the reel;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of the wire carrier shown in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary vertical cross sectional view of the wirecarrier, the section being taken on line 44 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a top plan view of the Wire handling reel shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is a side elevational view of the reel shown in FIGURE 5; and

FIGURE 7 is a vertical cross sectional view of the reel shown in FIGURES5 and 6, the section being taken on line 7--7 of FIGURE 5.

In the manufacturing from wire of such products as bolts, nails, screws,fences, clothes hangers and reinforced concrete wire mesh, the wire iswound on carriers, and these carriers are mounted on reels which feedthe wire into fabricating machines for the various products. Inconventional or standard pay-ofi reels, the wire is pulled from thecarrier, either vertically, during which the 3,127,127 Patented Mar. 31,1964 carrier remains stationary, or horizontally, during which the reelis rotated by the force applied to the wire by the fabricating machine.When the wire has been removed from the carrier, the carrier is removedfrom the reel and returned to the place where the wire is manufacturedfor receiving another coil of wire. The wire may be wound directly on aparticular carrier where it remains until unwound, the original carrierremaining in the coil until the coil is unwound from the reel, or thewire may be wound on one carrier and the carrier removed from the coil,the coil shipped to the place where the Wire products are fabricated,and another carrier reinserted in the coil ready for mounting on thepay-off reel. The present wire carrier is designed for either use and isparticularly adapted for an indefinite number of operations of thistype.

The carrier, reel combination shown in FIGURE 1 consists of a carrier 10and reel 12, the carrier being shown in operating position on the reelafter the wire has been removed therefrom. The carrier is constructed ofsteel plate and tube material and consists of a disc-shaped base plate14 and four vertical tubular members 15, 18, 2d and 24 connected to oneanother at the top and center, the connecting structure being indicatedby numeral 26. The lower ends of the tubular members are rigidly weldedto the upper surface of base plate 14, forming a rigid structuretherewith. The base plate is provided with a central opening 30 and fourinwardly extending lugs 32, 34, 36 and 33 to which the lower ends oftubular members 16, 18, 2t and 24, respectively, are secured. Thesemembers form driving engagement means with the payoff reel, as will bemore fully explained hereinafter. In place of the disc-shaped base plate14, the base may be fabricated from two or four members formed from tubeor bar stock and welded together and to the lower ends of members 16,18, 2t? and 24.

One of the principal features of the present invention is structure 26connecting the four tubular members. The tubular members 15 and 20 areformed of one tubular piece into the U-shaped configuration shown inFIGURE 2, which is flattened at the apex 26, thus forming a thin andbroad, rigid element to which the upper ends of tubu lar members 18 and24 are securely welded. The principal advantage of this structure is thegreatly increased strength over the conventional unit for receiving ahook, chain or the like for lifting the carrier. It is seen,particularly from FIGURE 2, that as the hook is slipped beneathstructure 26, the hook portion engages the lower edge 42 of verticallyflattened portion 40, thus placing all of the strain resulting fromlifting a loaded carrier onto the continuous tubular member structureformed by tubular members 16 and 20, and avoiding placing the strain onany welded joint between the four members. Since the flattened portionis substantially wider in the vertical direction and thus stronger thanthe individual tubular members, it is capable of supporting asubstantially greater load than the unflattened tubular members alone.

The wire handling reel shown in FIGURES 1, 5, 6 and 7 is a non-poweredunit, consisting of a base 50, carrier support 52 rotatably mounted onthe base by hub 54 secured to the underside of the support, and axlemember 56 and roller bearing 58 supported by axle member 56 andsupporting hub 54. Support member 52 consists of a disc-shaped plate 66on which is mounted a self centering drive cone 62, the latter havingtwo intersecting arcuate plates '64 and 66 rigidly secured to a frame68. The frame is provided with four outwardly projecting arms '79, 72,74 and 76, integrally formed With frame '68 and welded to the respectivecross members 64 and 66. The frame is secured to plate 60 and to hub 54by a plurality of bolts 73 extending downwardly through the frame and bya center stud extending downwardly through the frame plate into axle5'6.

When the carrier is mounted on the reel, the spaces between lugs 32, 34,36 and 33 receive arms 70, 72, 74 and 76, respectively, and the spacesbetween the arms receive lugs 32, 34, 36 and 38, respectively, thusproviding a sturdy, dependable interlocking relationship between thecarrier and the rotatable support of the reel. As the wire is pulledfrom the coil on the carrier, the support is rotated through the carrierby this interlocking relationship. In order to control the rotation ofthe coil and hence the tension on the wire being delivered therefrom, abraking mechanism is included, consisting of a brake shoe 82frictionally engaging the external surface of hub 54 and supported by alever 84 pivoted on support 86 and urged yieldably against the externalsurface of the hub by a spring 88. in order to vary the pressure of thebrake shoe on the hub, an adjustment means consisting of a screw 90extending through support 91 and having threaded on the free end a nut92 forms one anchor for spring 88.

Another feature of the present invention, which renders the presentcarrier particularly versatile with respect to the manner in which it isused, is the slightly upward and inward taper given the four tubularmembers, 16, 18, 29 and 24, i.e. the lower ends of these members arespaced further from the axis of base plate 14 than the upper ends of thevertical portions of the tubular members. Thus the carrier can readilybe slipped from the coil of wire after it has been Wound thereon andreinserted whenever the coil is to be unwound.

The present carrier can be used to hold a coil of wire for verticalunwinding without the use of a reel, or may be used on the type of reelshown in the drawings, or on a power driven type disclosed and claimedin our copending application Serial No. 218,005, filed August 20, 1962.

While only one specific embodiment of the present invention has beendescribed in detail herein, various chang s may be made therein withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A wire carrier comprising a disc-shaped base plate having an openingin the center, four equally spaced lugs extending from said plate intosaid opening, four substantially vetrical tubular members secured at thebottom to said lugs and being joined to one another at the top, saidmembers sloping inwardly from the bottom to the top and having asubstantially horizontal portion extending inwardly at the top, twoopposite of said members being formed as one piece and being thin in thehorizontal direction to form a vertical flattened portion and 4 theother opposite two of said members being joined by welding to oppositesides of said flattened portion, and the lower edge of said flattenedportion extending below the lower surface of said other opposite twomembers.

2. A wire carrier comprising a plate-like base having an opening in thecenter, four substantially vertical tubular members secured at thebottom to said base and being joined to one another at the top andhaving a substantially horizontal portion extending inwardly at the top,two opposite sides of said members being formed as one piece and beingbroad in the vertical direction to form a flattened portion and theother two of said opposite members being joined by welding to oppositesides of said flattened portion, the lower edge of said flattenedportion extending below the lower surface of said other two oppositemembers.

3. A wire carrier comprising a base having an opening in the center,four substantially vertical tubular members secured at the bottom tosaid base and being joined to one another at the top and having asubstantially horizontal portion extending inwardly at the top, twoopposite of said members being formed as one piece and being thin in thehorizontal direction to form a vertical flattened portion and the othertwo of said opposite members being joined to opposite sides of saidflattened portion.

4. In combination with a wire handling reel having a rotatable carriersupport with a drive cone: a disc-shaped base plate having an opening inthe center for receiving said drive cone, four equally spaced lugsextending from said plate into said opening forming an interlockingrelationship with said cone, four substantially vertical tubular memberssecured at the bottom to said lugs and being joined to one another atthe top, said members sloping inwardly from the bottom to the top andhaving a substantially horizontal portion extending inwardly at the top,two opposite of said members being formed as one piece and being thin inthe horizontal direction to form a vertical flattened portion and theother opposite two of said members being joined by welding to oppositesides of said flattened portion, and the lower edge of said flattenedportion extending below the lower surface of said other two oppositemembers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

1. A WIRE CARRIER COMPRISING A DISC-SHAPED BASE PLATE HAVING AN OPENINGIN THE CENTER, FOUR EQUALLY SPACED LUGS EXTENDING FROM SAID PLATE INTOSAID OPENING, FOUR SUBSTANTIALLY VETRICAL TUBULAR MEMBERS SECURED AT THEBOTTOM TO SAID LUGS AND BEING JOINED TO ONE ANOTHER AT THE TOP, SAIDMEMBERS SLOPING INWARDLY FORM THE BOTTOM TO THE TOP AND HAVING ASUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL PORTION EXTENDING INWARDLY AT THE TOP, TWOOPPOSITE OF SAID MEMBERS BEING FORMED AS ONE PIECE AND BEING THIN IN THEHORIZONTAL DIRECTION TO FORM A VERTICAL FLATTENED PORTION AND THE OTHEROPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID FLATTENED PORTION, AND WELDING TO OPPOSITE SIDESOF SAID FLATTENED PORTION, AND THE LOWER EDGE OF SAID FLATTENED PORTIONEXTENDING BELOW THE LOWER SURFACE OF SAID OTHER OPPOSITE TWO MEMBERS.